Gaza City, November 2 (RHC)-- Hamas’s political leader has accused Israel of carrying out “massacres” in the besieged Gaza Strip to conceal its own “defeats” and warned that the hundreds of Israeli and foreign hostages being held captive in Gaza faced the same risk of “death and destruction” from the Israeli assault on the territory as Palestinian residents.

Israel is “committing barbaric massacres against unarmed civilians,” Ismail Haniyeh said in an address broadcast on Wednesday.   “Its villainy will not save them from resounding defeat,” he promised.

Israel launched an assault on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out a devastating attack on southern Israel, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

At least 8,796 people have been killed in the continuing Israeli bombardment of Gaza, including 3,648 children, according to Palestinian authorities.

Haniyeh said Hamas had warned Israel’s “fascist government” about its “contentious policies” before its attack, pointing to the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and attacks on Islamic holy sites, such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Hamas leader said regional unrest would continue until “Palestinians obtain their “legitimate rights to freedom, independence and return.”  The remarks came after Israeli forces attacked the Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza for the second straight day, killing dozens, according to Palestinian officials.

More than 50 people were killed in an Israeli air raid on the densely packed neighbourhood the previous day, Palestinian authorities said.

Hamas said seven Israeli hostages, three of whom held foreign passports, were killed in the attack.